Tag: stock market

The Dow Jones Transportation index rose 3% on Thursday and officially entered a bull market, defined as a 20% or more gain from its most recent lows. Nearly half of Thursday’s gains were largely due to a 12% jump in FedEx Corp. . This ends a bear market that began on Dec 29, 2014, and lasted through Jan 20, 2016. There was another bear market for the Transports in 2011, when the index fell more than 28% from July 7 through Oct 3, 2011, according to FactSet.

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J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. said late Thursday its board increased the bank’s share buyback authorization by $1.88 billion, or nearly 30%. The increase is in addition to the $6.4 billion share purchase plan already approved by the board, J.P. Morgan said. Shares of J.P. Morgan advanced 0.9% to $59.29 after hours, after closing Thursday’s session down 0.3%.

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TransCanada Corp. said Thursday it plans to buy Houston-based Columbia Pipeline Group Inc. for $13 billion in an all-cash deal. Calgary-based TransCanada said it expects the acquisition to add to its bottom line in the first full year of ownership. Columbia shareholders will receive $25.50 a share, an 11% premium over the closing stock price. The deal is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals. “The acquisition represents a rare opportunity to invest in an extensive, competitively-positioned, growing network of regulated natural gas pipeline and storage assets in the Marcellus and Utica shale gas regions,”Russ Girling, TransCanada’s president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. The assets complement TransCanada’s existing North American footprint, he said. Columbia’s assets include natural-gas pipelines in the Marcellus and Utica shale-production areas. The deal is expected to close in the second half of the year. Shares of TransCanada were halted in late trading Thursday after ending the day up 2.6%. Shares of Columbia Pipeline rose 7.7% in late trading after finishing the regular trading day up 2.2%.

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Aéropostale Inc. shares dropped further into penny-stock territory late Thursday after quarterly results fell short of Wall Street expectations and the apparel retailer said it was considering a possible sale. Aéropostale shares plummeted 38% to 30 cents a share. The company reported an adjusted fourth-quarter loss of 14 cents a share on revenue of $498 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected a loss of 13 cents a share on revenue of $519.3 million. Aéropostale said it expects a first quarter loss of 35 cents to 42 cents a share, based on an operating loss of $24 million to $29 million. An ongoing vendor dispute with MGF Sourcing, however, could result in an additional operating loss of $5 million to $8 million, the company said. Analysts had estimated a first-quarter loss of 40 cents a share. Also, Aéropostale said it is considering a potential sale or restructuring of the company.

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Oil futures rallied for a second day Thursday, pushing the U.S. benchmark to its highest close in more than three months as investors focused on hopes for output reductions as well as a continued slide by the U.S. dollar a day after the Federal Reserve offered a less aggressive forecast of future rate increases. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for April delivery rose $1.75, or 4.5%, to end at $40.20 a barrel_the highest finish since Dec. 3.

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Gold futures settled higher on Thursday as the U.S. dollar fell a day after the Federal Reserve’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged and stepped back from its forecast for four interest-rate hikes to two this year. Gold benefits from a weak dollar as it makes the metal, which is denominated in the U.S currency, more attractive price-wise. April gold rose $35.20, or $2.9%, to settle at $1,265.

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L Brands Inc. was downgraded to neutral from outperform at Credit Suisse based on concerns the company may have too many stores in its portfolio. Analysts lowered the company’s price target to $90 from $103. L Brands, whose chains include Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret, has 3,005 company-owned stores, 90% of which are in the U.S., and has plans to increase its square footage. “We are increasingly cautious on traditional specialty retailers with outsized store footprints,” Credit Suisse wrote in a Thursday note. In a separate note, analysts look more broadly at the retail landscape and the heightened importance of digital channels. “We now see digital commerce and marketing as the primary and most effective mechanisms for building softlines brands, replacing the historical gatekeepers of third-party retailers and mass media marketing,” the note said. Credit Suisse has rated L Brands outperform since September 2014. The company’s shares are down 9.2% for the year so far while the S&P is down 0.3% for the same period.

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From:: Stock Market News

L Brands Inc. was downgraded to neutral from outperform at Credit Suisse based on concerns the company may have too many stores in its portfolio. Analysts lowered the company’s price target to $90 from $103. L Brands, whose chains include Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret, has 3,005 company-owned stores, 90% of which are in the U.S., and has plans to increase its square footage. “We are increasingly cautious on traditional specialty retailers with outsized store footprints,” Credit Suisse wrote in a Thursday note. In a separate note, analysts look more broadly at the retail landscape and the heightened importance of digital channels. “We now see digital commerce and marketing as the primary and most effective mechanisms for building softlines brands, replacing the historical gatekeepers of third-party retailers and mass media marketing,” the note said. Credit Suisse has rated L Brands outperform since September 2014. The company’s shares are down 9.2% for the year so far while the S&P is down 0.3% for the same period.

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Shares of Hutchison China MediTech , a biotech company, were trading at $13.57Thursday morning, above its issue price of $13.50. The company sold 7.5 million American depositary shares to raise $101.25 million. Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank Securities acted as the lead underwriters.

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Shipments of wearable devices are expected to jump by more than 38% this year to 110 million, and surpass 200 million by 2019, according to new data from industry tracker IDC. The industry’s growth is expected to be led by smartwatches, as manufacturers advance their capabilities and they become operational on their own without the need to be tethered to third-party devices like smartphones. Smartwatches like Apple Inc.’s watch and Alphabet Inc.’s Android Wear are expected to account for one-third of all of all wearables by 2020. The market is also expected to be lifted by the emergence of higher-end smartwatch brands from luxury designers, which could slightly eat into Apple’s share, though Apple is expected to remain the dominant brand for the foreseeable future, IDC said. The proliferation of new and different types of wearable product categories, such as connected clothes and eyewear, are also expected to contribute to the industry’s growth.

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